Luke 16:1-13
The Rev. David Hall
Good morning! My name is David Hall and along with my wife, Phyllis, who is sitting right over there, let me say that we are so glad to be here with you for several Sundays over the next few months. Phyllis and I have served with Candice and Steve in our diocese for many years. We know many of you through Camp McDowell and the Cursillo community. Rich Webster, who I have worked with at Saint Luke’s for the past 5 years, has told me so much about you and all of it has been good. So, we look forward to getting to know you and serving our Lord together.
Now that I am retired, it struck me the other day, just how important my Iphone is to me. Of course it makes phone calls – but there is so much more. I have 119 apps. One of them is a timer that counts down to when Phyllis retires. Only 95 more days to go. I have hundreds of pictures of our granddaughter, Lydia. I love FaceTime!
I have discovered Google Keep and Google Lists which help me remember stuff I have forgotten to remember. I have a Honey-do list and then there is our BUCKET list. It’s on both our phones to help us keep up with everything we want to do someday. Phyllis and I want to VISIT all 30 major league baseball parks. We have been to 24 so far. I want to take the train across Canada. WE want to go to Portugal and Norway and back to Israel. I bet you have a list of things you want to do someday.
Now there is one list that I don’t keep on my iPhone, and I don’t have it written down anywhere. It’s that spiritual list of the things I KNOW I should be doing. This is my PROCRASTINATION list. Most of the things on this list are NOT that hard to do. I like to think that now that I am RETIRED there is lots of time to get everything done. Or it could be that NOW is NOT the right time – or IT will take TOO much time or – I can come up with a thousand and one excuses for not doing what I know I should be doing.
I need to pray more and study those books in the Bible I’ve never read. I should volunteer at our local Food Bank. I should call that person on my prayer list that needs to hear that someone cares. In my mind and in my heart – I know that the things on my procrastination list are FAR more important than those on any of my other lists. But it always seems like there is plenty of time to get them done – someday.
I would like to think that the Rich Man in today’s Gospel lesson always thought to himself that he really SHOULD do something to help Lazarus. He likely thought that SOMEDAY he would do just that.
Nothing in this parable tells us that the Rich Man was mean or cruel. I suspect the plain truth is that he was too MUCH and too OFTEN – in a HURRY – and would RUSH past Lazarus THINKING someday he would stop and TAKE a moment to care. Someday he would BRING some food – FIND medical care – and perhaps OFFER Lazarus the chance for a better life.
But someday never came and the story shifts and Lazarus is in HEAVEN and the Rich Man in Hades. This wasn’t the SOMEDAY the Rich Man had planned. NOW he had all of eternity to THINK about what NEVER happened.
But, even in Hades his first thought was once more for himself. Let Lazarus come and BRING just 1 drop of water. I bet Lazarus would have done it.
Then the Rich Man asked for Lazarus to WARN his brothers. But the Rich Man’s brothers KNEW what they should do – just as he had known. After all Moses and the prophets had been telling the people for generations that the love of God and love of your neighbors go hand in hand. And everyone is our neighbor. The problem is that someday always COMES and THEN it is too late.
But what if we were to MAKE someday be today? AT St. George’s parish in Memphis TN there was a $10 bill in a frame that hung in the Narthex. I was a priest there from 1994 to 1999. The $10 bill was in a corner. Underneath was a letter dated December 25, 1988, that told the story.
One day a man came to the church needing some help. He’d run out of GAS late one Friday night and coasted into the parking lot. He slept in his car. He had no money and no food. The letter told how he’d lost his job WHEN the company he worked for CLOSED and there was no other work. He ran out of RENT money and was now LIVING out of his car. He HEARD about a job in Nashville and that was where he was headed when he RAN OUT of gas.
It was Saturday. No one was at the Church, but the doors were always open for people to PRAY. So, the man did. As he walked out of the Church, the letter said that he noticed a Forward Day by Day rack with about $10 in it. He TOOK the money and a Forward Day by Day and left a NOTE explaining what had happened and that he would pay it back – someday. Sometime later that letter in the Narthex came in the mail with a $10 bill. The man had used the money to buy gas. He made it to Nashville. The rest of the story is the KIND of ending you like to hear. He got the JOB, he has a HOME, and he DOESN’T go hungry. He JOINED a church.
TODAY – St. George’s Church keeps a wooden box in the Narthex with cash and a note that says GAS MONEY. Folks will drop in bills and coins. Our daughter, Stefanie, always said her OFFERING was going to the Gas Money. Who knows how many gas tanks and hearts have been FILLED with hope. Between December 1988 and 1999 and when I moved to Alabama, the outreach budget DOUBLED twice.
What if we decided that SOMEDAY was going to be TODAY. There’s Mercy House where hungry people are fed. You can volunteer to feed the EYC and nourish the next leaders of this parish. Support the Scouts, volunteer with Children’s Ministry. Be a part of your Church where everyone can come and experience the peace that passes all understanding Monday through Saturday as well as Sunday.
I hope we will always be asking God and ourselves WHEN can we help next – WHAT can we do next – WHERE will we put our faith in the God who calls us to the Heavenly Banquet.
Let’s proclaim that WE BELIEVE enough to believe that God will always use the hearts and hands of Ascension to make a difference in this part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s BELIEVE – EVERY day – that someday is TODAY.
Amen.